When the young midfielder stepped onto the pitch for his Guernsey debut against Phoenix Sports before just 55 fans in 2019, his manager at the time assured, “we haven’t seen the best from this youngster.”
That prediction turned out to be something of an understatement.
Today aged 22 and an established top-flight player with Bournemouth, the midfielder has just received his first call-up to the senior Three Lions squad.
His ascent from eighth-tier talent to possible England player is a proper throwback, a journey seldom told in the modern era.
What’s next? A major tournament?
“Back then, there was no chance of becoming a professional football player, never mind playing in the Premier League and playing for the national team as well,” the player said previously.
“It has been a incredible half-dozen years of my life, and circumstances have transformed completely for me and my family.”
So how did Scott, known affectionately as the ‘Grealish from Guernsey’, end up here?
Learning in the lower tiers
Scott’s path in football has been far from a typical one.
He was part of over four years in the Saints’ youth system from the age of eight, skipping school each Friday to travel by air from his island home on Guernsey to the south coast so he could train and play for the club’s academy sides.
Before he turned 13, though, they decided to let him go. Bournemouth were willing to offer him an option and he remained with them for a time, but, as he later admitted, his mind wasn’t fully committed.
Rather, he opted to remain on the island and turn out for his hometown club.
“I wasn’t playing very well and traveling every week was starting to feel a bit too much,” he recalled.
“I just wanted to relax at home with my friends at weekends because I had missed nearly four and a half years of that experience. To have that slice of youth back was a thing I definitely required.
“To gain a bit of self-belief by coming back and playing island football was huge for me. It was perhaps the most crucial things that led me where I am today.”
When he was just 16, Scott made history as the youngest player in the club’s records when he was introduced as a second-half replacement in their Isthmian League match at Phoenix Sports.
“I had trouble sleeping because I was trying to work out how I could get him in the team because his talent is obvious,” Guernsey boss Tony Vance commented at the time.
“Everyone’s now seen that – his retention of the ball is outstanding, the manner he runs with the ball, he’s a class act.”
Making a comeback to the pro ranks
Championship side Bristol City – chaired by islander their owner – had been monitoring his early progress after an impressive beginning in men’s football and gave him a trial in late 2019.
“It was chaos,” recalled the player. “Day one I trained with the under-18s, the second day I was with the senior squad, which was a complete surprise.
“Midweek I played for his local side in the capital, travelled back and by Friday, I played for Bristol City Under-18s and scored a hat-trick. From that point a done deal for me to sign a contract.”
Within a year and a half, even well before his 18th birthday, he was making his first-team debut against Luton.
Scott made eighty-three league outings for the club while still a teenager, frequently being used as a wing-back – and occasionally further forward as a attacking midfielder – such was his adaptability and flexibility. Despite his youth and not in his natural role he was their best player.
With his ability to carry the ball forward, and with his socks rolled down to his ankles, he earned the nickname ‘the Guernsey Grealish’, a nod to City and England playmaker Jack Grealish.
At the end of the 2022-23 campaign he claimed the second tier’s best young player award, was chosen in the division’s team of the year and was voted Bristol City’s player and young player of the Year.
“Without question, I believe he’ll play for England and I’m sure he’ll go on to the top of the sport,” Nigel Pearson, the player’s boss at Ashton Gate, remarked last year.
Within three months after, he joined Bournemouth for a reported transfer fee of 25 million pounds.
Getting his big move
Scott experienced a challenging first season with the Cherries, having to wait until October to earn his top-flight debut after a knee problem in pre-season, and then finding himself in and out of the team.
His second campaign was just as affected, this time by a surgery which sidelined him for nearly several months.
“There was a decent run at the end of the previous campaign, which was nice to have, then I broke my jaw,” said he.
“It was yet another obstacle and the year was shaping up as quite a terrible year for the first five months.”
But he was then selected by England for the Under-21 European Championships – and succeeded in regain fitness for the tournament.
He went on to start five of the Young Lions’ six games as they claimed victory in the tournament in the host nation, developing a strong partnership in midfield with Elliot Anderson, who in turn has excelled for the senior side under the national coach.
And he has begun the current campaign equally as impressively for his club, featuring in every game to help them to the top five in the table.
“To play for the national team would be among the most special occasions of my career,” Scott said recently.
“It’s down to me, I must keep progressing as a player, maintain my love for football, getting better day on day, and hopefully I impress the England manager and earn an opportunity.”
